Faults:

-Had to change the CV axles, front brakes (caliper, rotor, pads) and the front bearings when I bought it.

- Rear bearing at 365 000.

- Starter at 370 000.

- Parking brake cable broke.

- The camber was really bad; went through a set of tires in only a few months.

General Comments:

I had to buy a cheap and reliable car since I was going back to college. It was a temporary choice, and I wasn't so disappointed. Well first of all, at 355 000km, you have to expect problems. A good point with this car is that it share its platform with the Toyota Tercel, so parts are cheap and easy to find. It's a very easy car to work on, but with this much mileage, and with the harsh Canadian winter, you have to expect a jammed bolt and lots of frustration. This car never left me stranded, even though I had to travel 200km everyday, and it was really cheap on gas (somewhere around 5,8l/100km on highway, not so bad for a '98!).

Even though it was a piece of crap, the driving feeling was good, and I enjoyed cruising around with it. The leaking exhaust gave it somewhat of a unique sound, and even though it didn't had much compression left, the throttle was still responsive (downshifting helped a lot).

I only had the car for 6 months, and I had an overall good experience, even with the high mileage. And since it was a really old car, I didn't mind beating it, and it could still take it without any problems. Still a good example of Toyota toughness!

Faults:

Nothing went wrong on this car in the whole time I owned it.

General Comments:

The Paseo is a nice, well-proportioned looking small coupe, but it doesn't have any styling details that make it stand out.

Inside it is pretty dull. The interior doesn't look like that of a sports coupe. It looks like it was lifted straight out of the Corolla.

Performance was only average and not really fitting of a sports coupe. A 1.5 litre engine is too small for a car like this.

In its favour, the Paseo handles very well indeed. It is genuinely entertaining to drive fast along rural B-roads. The gearchange and steering feel good too.

The engine, though underpowered, is very reliable, and Toyota's dealer service is still second to none. For a small coupe the Paseo feels safe and durable.

Good seats, but at 6 foot 3 inches tall I found the driving position a bit cramped.